Profile: Candidate asks voters for third term on Danvers School Committee

Mary Byrne

Thursday

Apr 26, 2018 at 12:34 PM

Lifelong Danvers resident David Thomson is asking residents for a third term on the School Committee for Danvers Public Schools.

Thomson is running against incumbents Mary Beth Verry and challenger Kevin Neely in the May 1 election.

If given another opportunity to serve on committee, he hopes helps further the progress on the Smith School project.

"All three of my kids went to Smith, so it’s kind of near and dear to me," he said. "[They] had a great experience there, and I think that’s going to be an enormous project and a great asset for the town once it gets built and up and running.

Thomson is the School Committee liaison for the School Building Committee.

"We want to move toward the concept of where education is going, but we also don’t want to create a school that might be out of date… five or 10 years from now," Thomson said. "It’s that balancing act of creating that ‘cool school’ but maintaining some of the traditional elements."

For him, the progress made on the Smith School project is one of his greatest accomplishments since joining the committee.

"It's something we talked about for a long time," he said. "We had submitted to [Massachusetts School Building Authority] for several years, but because we had actually submitted it while we were wrapping up the high school project... I don't think we were looked at as being in need."

But, school administration and committee members "had their ducks in a row" when MSBA was ready to approve it.

Thomson said one of the biggest issues facing schools today is the issue of school safety.

"It's so important for kids to feel safe at school," he said. "You have to feel safe where you are to be fully engaged in what you’re doing, and there’s no simple answer to that."

But he said he thinks Danvers is in a good position.

"I think that we have policies and procedures in place that will hopefully work, God forbid it ever comes to that -- things like enhanced safety drills the kids do a couples times each year," he said.

He added: "You can't have a knee-jerk reaction to every single [tragedy]. You need to have a bigger picture and a bigger plan in place, which I think we do."

Thomson also said there's a growing emphasis on social/emotional learning and that he would like to continue finding ways to integrate that kind of learning into the DPS curriculum.

Thomson hold as master’s degree in Public Relations from Emerson College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Salem State College. In addition, he received a certificate in Meeting Management from Bentley College.

Thomson, who heads Thomson Communications -- a public relations agency based in Middleton -- is also a 1985 graduate of Danvers High School.

Today, he has two children in the Danvers Public School system, and one who recently graduated.

"Serving on the School Committee is a way to give back to the community that has given a lot to me and my family," he said.